Random Thoughts On Chicago

Wow!

That’s not really a word that I use very often. But that’s what kept going through my mind on Saturday night after watching the Peak Antifreeze 300 from Chicagoland Speedway. After a streak of five road/street courses that all had varying degrees of excitement, the IZOD IndyCar Series returned to the first of four ovals that will close out the 2010 season. They certainly did it in grand style, with Dario Franchitti winning on a gamble on tire strategy.

While not purposely trying to re-ignite the oval vs roadcourse debate; does Saturday night’s race leave any doubt as to why most Americans prefer ovals? I appreciate road courses and want several to remain on the schedule. I also understand the economic importance of street courses in large metropolitan areas and understand why a few of them must exist. I also appreciate the diversity of tracks that the IZOD IndyCar Series offers. But Saturday reiterated to me why ovals need to make up the majority of the IndyCar schedule.

In all honesty, I was exhausted after Saturday night’s race. I called my brother about a third of the way through the race and told him I had a bad feeling that something bad was going to happen. The way Marco Andretti and several others were darting around so violently, made me afraid we were going to see a repeat of Ryan Briscoe’s crash at the same track in 2005. I stood in front of the television for most of the race gasping every time it looked like wheels were about to touch, which was several times each lap. This was in contrast to when I actually fell asleep during the Mid-Ohio race.

Last night’s race was actually bitter-sweet. As good as the racing was, it was always in the back of my mind that this was probably the last IZOD IndyCar Series race at Chicago. When it was announced that Chicagoland Speedway would be the site of one of the ten NASCAR “chase” races next fall, it spelled doom for any chances of the IndyCar race to return. Even though it pretty well completes the divorce from ISC-owned tracks – I’ll miss watching races at Chicago.

Tighter points battle: Curt Cavin’s Q&A last week had an astute comment by Curt saying that if either Will Power or Dario Franchitti stumbled at Chicago; it would be either game on or game over. Well, it looks like Game On!

When Alex Lloyd spun to bring out the last caution, Will Power was leading. It looked as if Power was on his way to winning his first oval race and further distancing himself from second-place Dario Franchitti, who was running in ninth. Franchitti gambled and chose not to take tires, in order to leave the pits early for better track position. Franchitti came out in the lead, just ahead of Power. Then we learned that Power had a fueling problem on the same stop, did not take on a full load of fuel and couldn’t make it to the end. Oops!

The result was that Franchitti won the race while cutting Power’s lead from a hefty fifty-nine points going into the race, down to a much more manageable twenty-three points with three more ovals to go. Although Power claimed he had a lot of fun last night, he didn’t look near as comfortable on the ovals as on road courses. Yes, he was leading some – but his moves seemed very forced and unnatural to him. I still don’t think he will win an oval this season.

If Will Power wins no more races this season, he suddenly finds himself very vulnerable to a driver (Franchitti) that has won two out of the last three races and certainly seems to have momentum on his side. It would be ironic if another Penske driver threw away, what seemed like a championship in the bag, in the final races for the second year in a row. But I definitely think that Will Power has to be feeling some pressure after Saturday night.

TV coverage: I thought Versus redeemed themselves after a sub-par effort at Sonoma. Of course, it’s a lot easier to overlook gaffes when a race has you on the edge of your seat. Bob Jenkins had a few flubs, but nothing major. Jack Arute had another tiresome segment with props – this time with fans doing battle with each other.

Lindy Thackston did a good job with the pre-race show, that featured a good segment on Ryan Briscoe at home. Versus and the series need to develop more spots like these. It helps to humanize the driver more, to those fans that have never been to the track and never met any drivers.

Carey’s Hope: On a very serious note, Sarah Fisher had a decal on her rear wing for “Carey’s Hope”. This was in honor and support of Fisher’s longtime fuel man, Carey Hall, who was to retire after Saturday night’s race. Carey is forty years old and has been afflicted with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). The fatal condition has worsened and Carey can no longer perform to the level needed.

This is a horrible disease, for which there is no cure. The average lifespan after diagnosis is 2-5 years. I have personally known two people who endured agonizing deaths due to ALS. Just recently, a forty-year old mother of two that lives two houses down from me was diagnosed with the condition. Longtime radio voice of the Indianapolis 500, Sid Collins, was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Rather than suffer through a certain grueling and undignified end, Collins chose to take his own life on May 2, 1977.

Please keep Carey Hall, his family and Sarah Fisher Racing in your thoughts and prayers as he faces this difficult situation.

All in all: If this was indeed the last race at Chicago for the IZOD IndyCar Series, they certainly went out on a high note. To me, this is what makes the series so special. Sometimes, while watching races, I’ll fool myself into thinking that I could do that. Saturday night, I remember thinking that there is no way I could do that. It speaks well for the drivers and the series that they drove wheel-to-wheel for 200 laps almost incident-free. My heart was still pounding two hours later from watching it in the comfort of my living room. You can just imagine what it was like to be in the middle of the pack for two hours. Now we get to do it all over again next week at Kentucky. I will have recovered by then.

George Phillips

*Note – Since the race was on Saturday night, there will be no post on Monday Aug 30. I’ll return on Wednesday Sep 1.

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28 Responses to “Random Thoughts On Chicago”

George, I must agree with your WOW. I believe all of us were exhausted after that race, including the drivers. Did you hear or read any of their comments? Dario, TK, Helio, Dan W, RHR were just a few expressing their dissatisfaction, to put it politely and PC, about the wild and reckless driving a few displayed on the track. TK actually looked shaken during his interview, and that’s not TK!

The general concensus was that it was all great fun and exiting for us the viewers, but the drivers were terrifed out there that ‘the big one’ was imminent throughout much of the race. Quote from Dario being interviewed via Twitter “The trouble with this style of racing sometimes is that it’s how brave or how stupid you want to be” “There were some stupid moves out there, and there were some misunderstandings out there. The backmarkers weren’t being very helpful. ”

So, where were the black flags for some of those ‘stupid’ and reckless moves that made all of us gasp and hold our breaths? Guess TGBB didn’t feel as if anyone was in danger out there going 216 mph plus, but he was and is so concerned about driver safety re ‘blocking’ on road/street course races that he’s quick to black flag with cars traveling at half the speed.

What’s the answer to a happy medium, except may get rid of BB, for one thing. Or maybe the new Drivers Assn will make it known to BB that something needs to be done before a tragic crash takes place.

The Chicago race hopefully opened the eyes of Ropin’ Randy. Granted he knows nothing about racing, but even he had to see the difference in the RACES at Indy, Texas, Iowa and Chicago and the “EVENTS” at the road/street festivals. Its more then night-and-day.

THAT is what Indy Car Racing is supposed to be about. THAT is its heritage. Its not farting around at 100 MPH on some motorcycle track or are some pothole infested city street. Not saying you have to have all ovals. But the series should be a oval racing dominated series. “Diverse” racing does not exist in the world of racing. And there is a reason for that. Series’s have to realize what they are and who they are trying to appeal to. NASCAR isn’t interested in the miniscule road racing fanbase out there in this country. F1 isn’t interested in drawing the mininscule oval racing fanbase outside this country. Drag Racing does what they do. USAC isnt’ concerned with road racing. Star Mazda isn’t concerned about oval racing.

Indy Car Racing was and should be about OVAL RACING. When your biggest event is the Indy 500 on the world’s biggest and baddest oval, you damn well better cater the rest of your series (if you give a damn about the rest of your series) AROUND that race.

Indy Car does it ass-backwards. They cater the rest of their sport and series AWAY from the Indy 500 and oval racing in general. They are into “paddocks” and “overtaking” and “passing in pit lane” and a prodominant European style of racing and thinking. The Indy 500 is just there to give them relevence, some prestige one day a year and give their sponsors an actual reason for giving the teams money.

The drivers, by and large, did a great job last night (except for the KV trio of incompetent fools and the pathetic starts/restarts). Whether the road racing contingent want to admit it or not, that stuff isn’t easy. Its not easy to run that close. Its tough on you mentally. Ain’t no sandtraps, if you make a boner on a oval. And that wall ain’t “soft” either.

But the reason why folks don’t watch these terrific races and don’t care about the series in general, is because of the driver lineup. If you had 20 American drivers in the cars last night, marketed them correctly and then put on that kind of show, then you would have something. But the truth of the matter is, nobody gives a rip if Dario Franchitti wins or if Ryan Briscoe wins or if Will Power wins. They elicit no feeling either way in 99% of people and Americans in general could care less. And that still is the #1 issue with Indy Car Racing today. Its not nearly “American” enough for a American racing series.

That’s real cute. I guess CART had it all wrong and the IRL had it all right… Oh wait… One was a world class, attention-grabbing, marquee series and the other was simply a mistake. As RANDY BERNARD states, there are 15 to 20 million fans out there somewhere that no longer watch Indycar racing. You know when they watched? When CART was king and they had a diverse schedule. Explain that one, Trickle Dickle.

No, you’re right. Let’s go back to all/majority ovals. Let’s disregard the ALL the fans that SHOW UP and PAY MONEY to go to road and street courses for EMPTY ovals. Maybe if all these oval zealots you’re talking about actually existed and SHOWED UP they would consider it… Here’s a thought: maybe no one in the Chicago area shows up to the Chicagoland Indycar race because the people of the Chicago area don’t care to see Indycars on an oval? Why do southern Californians show up for Long Beach but don’t go to Fontana? Think about that. Not everyone is you, bud.

I can’t wait to hit Homestead. That’s gonna’ be a real fire cracker of a race, won’t it, Trickle Dickle? Or that barn burner in Kansas – how was that? Or that snooze fest at Indy that only gets a pass because it’s Indy?

People show up at Long Beach FOR THE PARTY and its a tradition out there. Those aren’t race fans. Most probably couldn’t tell you who the hell is racing and don’t care who the hell is racing.

If you would actually READ what I wrote (and have the capability of understanding), I didn’t say we need ALL OVALS. What I said is that if your #1 race is the Indy 500, then you better cater your series AROUND that race. What Indy Car does, is assbackwards. They cater the rest of their series AWAY from the Indy 500. Maybe that’s why NOBODY cares about Indy Car racing anymore, except for one day a year.

The people in Chicago dont’ show up for the Indy Car race for the same reasons they don’t show up most places for Indy Cars….THE DRIVER LINEUP. Nobody knows or gives a damn about these drivers. They are nameless, faceless people, who cannot appeal to the American fanbase. People get into racing because of the DRIVERS. You go to Chicago or most ovals on the schedule and look and see how many driver SWAG you see on the fans in the stands. THAT is the problem.

CART went tits-up, didn’t they? They are dead. They killed themselves, because the only race that their teams competed in, went away and their house of cards was so fragile that it quickly blew down. Yes, that was a hell of a series. Diversity, my ass. They were somewhat popular because they had long-time American names in the series and the Indy 500. That is why. When they lost the American names, and replaced them with F1 Junior series flunkees and drivers nobody has ever heard of, they fell off the map. When they lost the Indy 500, they were toast.

Very exciting. Nice to see Marco challenging for the lead. It’s certainly a nail-biting, on the edge race–and a little scary. But that’s open-wheel, oval racing, isn’t it?

It does seem like there’s a few drivers who push the edge of what they can control, and because of that, they’re the same drivers who wreck every week. I think Delta makes a good point about policing reckless drivers on ovals.

The crowd seemed pretty weak on television–I’d like to hear from someone who was there as to the crowd. Also–what is the difference between Chicago and the other mile and a half tracks to follow–is it that Chicago is banked more?

I was at the track last night. I would estimate the track was 50% full. Remember the track seats 70K, so a 35K crowd estimate would be accurate. Not every parking lot was open, but the three I could see that were open were pretty full. As a contrast, SpeedTV showed a replay of Friday night’s truck race at 11:00 PM Saturday night. If the track was 25% full for the trucks, that would be a generous estimate.

I do have to agree with JP though. For three quarters of the race it seemed no one could pass the leader, and yes, it wasn’t until the first pit stop that the lead changed. There was a lot more racing back in the pack, but it seemed the leader was close to untouchable last night. On the IMS Radio Network, the announcers said the key to Dario’s win was he ran towards the middle of the two lines, and that kept Wheldon and the others from getting a run on him. But JP was right: It was more pitstops than racing on track that decided who took the lead.

Kudos to Sarah Fisher and Ed Carpenter for showing the “little guys” can keep up with the big money teams. And thumbs up to Marco, who looked like he might surprise everyone last night.

Sadly, I’m afraid this may have been the last IRL race at Chicagoland. The program had an ad for 2011 with no mention of the IRL (NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and Nationwide mentioned prominently), and the PA announcer mentioned the 2011 NASCAR races, and a nod towards “other events”. Hopefully they will come back, since after losing Gateway, Milwaukee, and not running at Road America, without Chicagoland the only race we’ll be attending next year will be the Indianapolis 500.

I was at the track too, and I agree that it was 40-50% full at best. Which is sad, because all of the fans there got to watch a great show.
I sat next to a nascar fan watching his first Indycar race – he was shocked to see the pack racing he likes, only at MUCH faster speeds and without rampant, pointless passing (it was work to get to the front).

I don’t dislike road courses (well, ok, I don’t like sonoma) and in fact Toronto and Long Beach (and previously Surfer’s) are great races that I look forward to on the schedule. BUT… races like that are why I love Texas & Chicago.

Now that cookie-cutters don’t make up a majority of the schedule, I don’t see the point in the disproportionate dislike for them. Saturday I got to attend a first-class show and I’m very sad if they don’t come back next year.

I’m just so glad we didn’t have one of those races where the pass for the lead happened in the pit and the leader was able to hold off the rest of the field on double stint tires because the opportunites for passing were so slim…Oh wait…

I liked the race, but I think it says more about the venue than the “ovals vs. road courses” argument. The oval-only people often conveniently forget the snoozers where the leaders get up front and stay up front, and there’s still no passing because everyone’s maxed out and there’s opportunity to close and overtake. A good road course with multiple passing zones offers opportunities for great racing, just as a good oval can.

I was a little conflicted. I’m sick of Ganassi/Penske dominance, but I like Dario too much. I was glad to see him again.

Whew! That was exhausting. I think there was a point late in the race where I didn’t breathe for several minutes. Wow indeed.

When the pack came roaring up on Milka late in the race, I thought for sure there was gonna be carnage. That was probably the scariest part.

I also have to say that Power’s save on lap 4 was amazing. Watching the replay I still can’t believe he regained control. He was damn near sideways. I’d have been cleaning “vegemite” out of my firesuit. The guy’s got skill, and once he gets some more oval experience, lookout, he could come to dominate the series.

The oval vs. road debate will always rage on but as a fan of all these different types of racing I think that’s what makes the series unique. These drivers aren’t as famous as the NASCAR drivers or as rich as F1 but to be able to pilot the cars on all these different types of tracks is the best thing about the league IMHO. The series does need a few more American drivers in contention for wins, a few more teams that can compete with the 2 big money teams and, most importantly, the right marketing.

I’m with you, Scott. The series is going to be 50/50, at least for the foreseeable future. So let’s hope they concentrate on creating the best racing at each venue–oval or twisty. And marketing the drivers.

Admitedly, I’m only 65 laps into the race (dvred, but know how it ends) and I’m wondering if I’m watching the same race you all seem to be jazzed about. We’ve gone from a single file parade where no one up front can pass, to a double file parade where no one up front can pass, and sure it’s thrilling to see cars running two wide, but if it doesn’t result in a pass a parade is a parade. 100 plus more laps of this plus a pit determined ending with what sounds like a “defensive” line run by the winner type ending to look forward to? Hmm…maybe I’ll finish it, maybe….

Incidentily, though I meant to post this on the Susan post, since we’re stereotyping genders, every male I talk to ages 18-40 that isn’t a race fan but could potentially be says, when I bring up racing and loving it, “What…you mean where they drive in a circle?” with a high level of derision. These are football, hockey, and MMA fans I’m refering to. Just throwing that out there.

Keep in mind, this particular fan loves racing in general, has grown tired of the constant arguing.

The problem isn’t the venue, it’s the cars and their age. Cut Kansas, Watkins, and Barber; add Milwaukee, MIS, and Cleveland.

Case in point, though I like Fisher, she’s clearly holding up the field, meaning you can’t pass on the outside up front. Notice how quickly they start catching up to Briscoe once finally getting around her.

not really a gamble for Dario to not take tires. Firestone guy talked to IMS Radio and mentioned that after 1st pitstop, the tires were barely 50% worn. He was expecting someone to not take tires at last pitstop.

While I’ve never been a big pack racing fan, it was great to see the cars up over 200 again and putting on (despite all the driver’s complaints) a good, largely-clean show. It was neat to see all sorts of different drivers dicing to the front. I recall several times where I’d say “Hey, where’d Wilson/Moraes/etc. come from?”
Still, it was frustrating to see that no one was able to pass for the lead. Reminded me of the CART race on the Vegas oval.
On starts and restarts, James Hinchcliffe had a great comment on the radio broadcast. About 1/3 of the way through the race he noted that the pack of cars crossing the start/finish two-by-two was what the start of the race should have looked like.

Like he did at Texas, Marco had the drive of the race. Had he been able to clear Wheldon on the outside and take second in the last few laps he might have given Dario a drag race to the checkered flag. Marco continues to show he has the guts, setup, and talent to run better than anyone on the high line of the 1.5’s.
I’m an old Unser fan and Marco is not the most likable of an Andretti clan I’m not supposed to like, but darn if he isn’t the most exciting driver to watch on these tracks.

It’s really a disappointment that IndyCar no longer run here…saturday’s race was the best race of the year (except Indy 500), and Chicagoland Speedway is always the place for one of the best race of the year…

The funny part about your posts is your abundance of supposition. You’re making so many assumptions, it’s almost impossible to counter your argument. It’s impossible to tell a person they’re wrong (even if they are) if nothing about their argument is concrete.

In any case…

How are you going to make such a blanket statement about the Long Beach crowd? Even if your blanket generalization is true, how are you or anyone else above having an event/race that casual fans/party goers flock to? Explain to me how having a successful race in a major metropolitan area is a bad thing? What kind of high-horse do you ride upon to turn your nose up to that?

10’s of thousands ALL WEEKEND at Long Beach vs 8k on RACE DAY in [insert any oval with the exception of Iowa and maybe Texas].

The funny point you make is that the series should build the rest of the series around a track that people say has road course characteristics as much as it has oval ones. Hmm… And here we are, with a series that has road course characteristics and oval ones.

My point about the Chicagoland/Southern California crowd is that I simply think certain regions fit certain types of racing. My example, Long Beach/Fontana; people show up for Long Beach and no one shows up for Fontana (Cup, Indycar, whatever). What’s to say that the same is true for Chicagoland? Maybe the people of Chicago just don’t like oval racing? Is that wrong? No. It could just be a matter of tailoring your product to your area. The west coast simply isn’t an oval crowd, which is why there aren’t major oval events along the coast outside of Fontana.

Long Beach isn’t a race, Chrissy. Its a party with the race going on in the background.

This, first and foremost, is supposed to be a RACING series.

And the racing at many, many tracks in Indy Cars SUCKS. Sucks out loud. Its a terrible TV product and draws nobody to the TV sets. And that terrible racing product, in the end, ends up rubbing off on the Indy 500 too. Because the Indy Car brand now, is thought of as a largely foreign, road racing series, with boring races.

The Long Beach “crowd” doesn’t show up at Fontana because most of those folks aren’t race fans. And you actually have to make the effort to go to Fontana. No party’s and beer gardens at Fontana.

Chicago is in the home of American Open Wheel Racing. The American Midwest. Instead of blaming the fans or ISC or everybody under the sun for why crowds have tuned out Indy Cars, when are people going to realize that its INDY CAR’S FAULT? There are literally millions of AOW fans in Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois that could go to Chicago. Maybe if instead of filling the field with F1 Flunkees, Euro Feeder Drivers and nobody’s from nowhere, we should try something else? Maybe those folks that pack shorttracks all accross the Midwest in this country, would be more inclined to follow the top rung of the sport, if it was more in line with the rest of AOW?

Hopefully Bernard’s plans to rectify this problem will be announced soon and some real progress will be seen. It can only help.

Indy is a oval. Its been a oval for 100 years. Its what this sport has been built on. Its the only race that gives the series relevence. Its the only race that sponsors care about. Its the only race that gets above a 1 rating today. Its the only reason why Indy Cars are still on network TV 4 or 5 times a year.

You wanna be a international road racing series, with foreign drivers? Fine. Just don’t lump the Indy 500 in with that stuff. For about 80 years, The Indy 500 and Indy Car Racing was about oval racing and American drivers and we saw the BEST American talent gravitate towards Indy Cars.

Only since CART took over things and pined to become F1 Lite, with their sports car/F1 bred owners, did the balance swing the other way. We lost our identity. The American talent left or didn’t even give them a look. We have no sponsors. No American interest. Nothing.

Pick what you want. Wanna be international, with road racing and foreign drivers? Wanna appeal to American folks, with American drivers and ovals? Can’t be both. Just quit screwing up the history and heritage of the Indy 500. I hate seeing the race continue to see record low ratings year in-year-out.

Here’s a hypothetical: IMS reopens the snake pit, attendance is up 75,000; do you say these aren’t real race fans, or do you use that as proof to bolster your claim that oval racing is “where it’s at”? Say what you want, we both know which claim you’d make.

Indy isn’t, and has never been about pack racing, after turn one. It’s about tail gating a car at 200+ mph, and setting him up for a pass through the turns. So in what way are we supposed to build a series around that type of racing?

Millions of AOW fans in the midwest? Really dude? There’s probably several thousand, but millions?

I’d argue that people who would tune in to watch an oval race are already claimed. They’re either Nascar fans, or what’s left of Indycar fans. Furthermore, the people you’re refering to who would, apparently, suddenly start watching AOW if all they did was add a bunch of americans to the field, are all middle aged (no offense George), and ARE NOT coming back. I work with several males, ages 18-40, who when I talk about being excited about watching a race the coming weekend always say, unanimously, “What, we’re they drive in a circle for a few hours?” These are football, hocky, and MMA fans, so they’re no strangers to danger and action. So my question is, do you want to reclaim fans who have long since left the sport, or attract new ones? I’d argue any new fans you could hope for are already watching Nascar.

It’s also either incredibly disingenuous, or outright naive, to suggest that the people who go to ovals are actual race fans and not there to party. I’ve been to Nashville, MIS, IMS, and Kentucky (and provided a better income would gladly return to three of the four tracks…Nashville sucks, again, sorry George) and at theses tracks I saw plenty of people who were there for the tail gate, not the race, and at I’d wager this scenario is even larger at Nascar races. Furthermore, the attendance at Sonoma was up, not down. Barber sold more tickets than Chicago. There’s plenty of fans of road racing out there, and don’t be so arrogant as to declare them “not real racing fans” simply because they prefer a different style of racing than you. Incidenitly, resigning the series to the midwest will kill it quicker than any street/road course venue. If people were exclusively interested in Americans on Ovals, why didn’t the IRL garner a better rating than Cart in it’s formative years?

I’m not arguing to drop ovals, I’d welcome a return to MIS (and would attend annualy as I have family in Ann Arbor who would also attend annually). Nor, for that matter, am I defending the snoozer that was Barber. I want diversity (because what’s more American than diversity?), but I want a car that can pass on a diverse array of tracks, and this Dallara simply can’t do that. If the next car promotes passing on road/streets will you continue to lodge your complaints simply because it isn’t pack racing?

Why is it no one but me seems to find tail gating at 180+ into a brake zone as exciting as pack racing? There’s just as much danger involved. *side note: Robin Miller if you watch Texas with your eyes closed, save speed some money and quit going there ya damn wuss*

Why is it the fans seem more interested in waging this war now more than ever? It’s really turning me off of the series altogether.